The handle is cast with bell. No welding of these handles, thicker handle is good for grip work and for doing floor kettlebell exercises, such as the Renegade Row and KB Pushup. A wider handle on the men's & women's bell makes bottoms up drills possible. A slightly wider handle allows for more space for two handed drills.  Our kettlebells have a tough 3 part Hammer Tone paint finish, Not like epoxy finishes you see on other kettlebells with epoxy finishes that can easily chip.  A Bigger & Wider Bottom for more stability and confidence, not like most of the ones you will see with rubber bottoms for they have small bottoms and they add the rubber to increase the stability and then after you use them several times they fall off or chip and your left with a torn or ripped rubber bottom that you cannot use for kettlebell floor exercises.